It’s that time of year again. As we approach Remembrance
Day, 11th November, red poppies will become highly visible in our everyday
lives. They are worn on lapels and stuck on the front of cars. What does the red
poppy really mean?
Most people are aware of the inspiration of the poem ‘In
Flanders fields the poppies blow’ but how many of us know that the first red
poppies were made by the women of Northern France at the instigation the US to
raise funds for children who had suffered in the war? Only later were they adopted
by the British Legion as a fund raising tool and over the years the red poppy has become ubiquitous
in October/November every year.
There is now an unpleasant tendency to use the Poppy Appeal
as a propaganda tool to glorify war. The British Legion does much good for
services personnel and their families but is this role they should be taking
on?
‘The question lingers: if the dead are said to have 'sacrificed' their
lives, then why weren't the living, who came out of the same danger, being
suitably honoured and cared for by the state that sent them’
Instead of looking back at the past, wearing the white poppy
is a symbol of wanting to prevent future wars. Our service men and women would not
need intensive support services if we did not send them to fight unnecessary
wars. White poppies are not intended as an insult to the fallen, many of whom
were husbands, brothers or father of the women of the Cooperative Women’s Guild
who first made them. It is intended as a reminder of the horrors of war and to
insist that those in power should resist war and try to solve conflicts
peacefully. So buy your white poppy and remember all the victims of war.
No comments:
Post a Comment